"We have been nice girls long enough. We’ve made our cholent…we should take to the streets." - Blu Greenberg

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Shining Stars of Davida: Lisa Brown

The feminist
blogosphere has been buzzing over the recent brouhaha in the Michigan State House
of Representatives. On June 7, a bill that would drastically limit abortion
access was introduced onto the House floor for a vote. To be honest,
“drastically limit” is a huge understatement: this 60-page bill would criminalize
all abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy without exceptions for rape or health
of the mother or baby (except for when the mother’s life is at risk), require
abortion providers to have surgery rooms regardless of whether or not they
provide surgical abortions, require doctors to be present for medication
abortions, screen women to see if they were “coerced” into getting an abortion,
and ban the use of technology to prescribe medication for abortion services and
the morning-after pill. Because of all these regulations, clinics would need to
charge higher fees or close down entirely. Unfortunately, the
Republican-dominated House passed it 70-39. The Senate will begin discussing it
in September.

While the House
may have passed it, this anti-choice legislation did not go without opposition.
Representative Lisa Brown (D-MI) said:

“Yesterday we heard
the Representative from Holland
speak about freedom of religion. I’m Jewish. I keep kosher in my home. I have
two sets of dishes, one for meat and one for dairy and another two sets of dishes
on top of that for Passover.

“Judaism believes
that therapeutic abortions, namely abortions performed to save the life of the
mother, are not only permissible but mandatory.
The stage of pregnancy does not matter. Wherever there is a question of the
life of the mother or that of the unborn child, Jewish law rules in favor of
preserving the life of the mother. The status of the fetus as humyn life does
not equal that of the mother. I have not asked you to adopt and adhere to my
religious beliefs. Why are you asking me to adopt yours?

“And finally, Mr.
Speaker, I’m flattered that you’re all so interested in my vagina, but no means no.”

First of all, I think it’s really
amazing that there’s an affiliated/observant Jew in the Michigan State Congress.
The fact that she doesn’t allow her religious convictions to remain a secret is
even cooler, since Jews often try to stay low-profile. (Considering there are
still quotas and a lot of anti-Semitism, I don’t even blame them.) So to see a
Jew bragging about it is totally awesome.

Secondly, I am SO glad that
someone has finally talked about what Judaism has to say about abortion!
Brown’s point about how Judaism requires an abortion to save the life of the
mother is something that occurred to me ever since I started caring about
reproductive rights. Everything Brown said is completely correct: if a fetus
threatens the life of the mother, it’s a mitzvah to have an abortion.
Yes, folks, commanded to us by the Holy One. As a result, any legislation that
restricts abortion access is sort of a freedom of religion issue. But I’ll let
the ACLU deal with that one when it becomes an issue.

And finally, it is extremely
awesome that Brown had the guts to use the word vagina on the House
floor. It’s so silly that someone has to be praised for using the technical
term for a part of the humyn anatomy, and I hope the situation is different for
my daughter’s generation. As of right now, though, I am so impressed with Brown
for getting up there and using the word vagina, since it’s so taboo in
today’s society.

Unfortunately, the Michigan State
Congress couldn’t deal with a woman talking about Judaism and reproductive
rights while using the word vagina, and banned her from speaking the
next day. Again, I look forward to the day where this situation would never
happen.

Well, I’m glad that we have women
and Jews like Brown in politics, and I certainly hope she’ll pursue a seat in
the US Congress at some point soon. Until then, I can’t wait to see what else
she accomplished in Michigan!

For her amazing courage, I dub Lisa
Brown an inductee into the Shining Stars of Davida - strong women and men who
make us feminists proud.

This weekend, I will be at the NOW conference. Look forward to hearing about all the awesome people I meet, speakers I hear, and sessions I attend!

About Me

Prayer for Agunot

Creator of heaven and earth, may it be Your will to free the captive wives of Israel when love and sanctity have fled the home, but their husbands bind them in the tatters of their ketubot. Remove the bitter burden from these agunot and soften the hearts of their misguided captors. Liberate Your faithful daughters from their anguish. Enable them to establish new homes and raise up children in peace.

Grant wisdom to the judges of Israel; teach them to recognize oppression and rule against it. Infuse our rabbis with the courage to use their power for good alone.